The invention relates to an electrical switch comprising at least one switching mechanism and a potentiometer plate with a slider which, particularly, is movable by a member for actuating the switching mechanism, with the potentiometer plate being connected in an electrically conducting manner to terminal elements of the switch. A switch of this kind is known per se and very often employed in electrically operated hand tools, especially percussion drills. The incorporated potentiometer permits setting of quite definite control characteristics of the drive motor. On the other hand, of course, the switch must be of relatively small size, since it might be necessary to accommodate it in the handle or another narrowly limited zone of the hand tool. This calls for a miniaturization of all the component parts, thus also of the potentiometer plate. This plate must be electrically connected to preferably three terminal elements. For constructional reasons, these points of connection are mostly provided deeply inside a narrow switch housing which is closable with a cover. The restricted space conditions on the one hand and the small size on the other hand entail either poor joints, cold junctions, or fouling of the potentiometer with tin and/or flux while effecting the electrical connections by soldering. This results in a relatively high reject rate and increased test cost. In addition, the connecting operation itself is difficult and already for this reason time consuming and expensive.